From a Local Moving Firm to A National Provider: Ayan Malikov of Nomad Express LLC Shares His Way to Success in Logistics
By Lena Lau.
Today, logistics has multiple disruptive forces simultaneously affecting it. As it is driven upward by the e-commerce market growth, supply chain disruptions and driver shortages remain on the scene in the US and in other nations as well. The necessity for sustainability, driven by economic pressures and implemented regulations, demands faster technology implementation.
As an example of the logistics industry becoming increasingly intertwined with technology, 70% of US fleet executives now operate AI tools at present, utilizing the tools for fuel savings, route, and operations optimization. To thrive in the global operations of the industry, the organization must be flexible and capable of coping with sudden changes, hence the demand for adaptive leadership.
Ayan Malikov, owner and leader of Nomad Express LLC, who brought it from a local moving firm to a nationwide shipments provider, currently operating across key national freight corridors, such as I-5 on the West Coast and I-80 across the Midwest, with major port-to-site logistics routed through Los-Angeles, Houston and Miami, shared his experience of navigating the volatile market and turning the current disruptions of the industry into growth opportunities.
In a changing environment where challenges and opportunities can arise at any moment, decision-making must be proactive, efficient, and based on objective facts. To thrive, merely reacting to the changes occurring will not be enough, and hence, the necessity of analytical tools as means for efficient operation comes into question.
The shift to data-based decision-making quickly brought tangible results. Through identifying and resolving recurring delays in loading and dispatch processes, the company managed to achieve a 20% productivity boost, increasing the number of daily shipments within just one year, finding the most efficient ways to use its existing fleet.
“You cannot achieve that level of productivity increase just through driving faster or increasing your fleet,” explains Ayan Malkkov, “We analysed every checkpoint and every aspect of company operation, from driver scheduling to warehouse turnaround, to identify the objective reasons for delays and then find ways to eliminate them. Eventually, rooting our processes and decisions in data analytics allowed us to achieve much more with the same number of trucks.”
In a volatile market, customer experience becomes a critical competitive edge, especially for companies aiming to retain clients in the long term. The secret of sustainable development of the business consists in forming long-lasting relationships with the customers and creating a basis for their loyalty and the formation of the firm’s good name. To this aim, Ayan Malikov has created a Customer Experience Optimization Model (CEOM), a system that establishes a space in which better customer interactions can be formed at every touchpoint in the customer’s journey. CEOM includes customer journey mapping, pain points discovery, and improving areas on the basis of customers’ feedback.
The aforementioned data analysis has become a critical part of the system of CEOM, making it possible for the business to monitor customers’ behaviour exactly, define their preferences, and adapt communication and provide offers according to the situation at hand efficiently. At Nomad Express LLC, the application of the new system of managing customers by Ayan Malikov formed a good starting point for optimization of existing customer engagement approaches, with the tangible result of a 25% customer retention boost.
While tools like data analytics provide a strong foundation, true resilience in logistics depends on how effectively people across the company are able to collaborate. Applying new instruments and methods by themselves doesn’t make a business succeed in a changing market completely.
“A firm has to do better than just apply a set of new instruments to old processes, thoroughly studying and reforming them so as to make innovation an essential part of the firm’s activity,” comments Ayan Malikov. “Cross-functional communication and efficient collaboration become crucial in achieving this.”
Ayan put these words into practice, forming cross-functional teams and promoting cooperation between the departments, including operations staff, dispatchers, and customer service representatives. Creating an environment where people from different ends of the process can work together has become another efficient way to eliminate delays, along with the above-mentioned data-based approach. This, in turn, facilitated a positive atmosphere for the employees to exchange ideas, demonstrate initiative, and apply their hands-on experience in order to discover the most efficient means of implementing innovation. As a result, not only certain coordination issues resolved, but the practical results of increased reliability of on-time deliveries were achieved.
The second trend that contemporary businesses should keep in mind is the increasing relevance of sustainable methods. This occurs not merely as a result of the emergence of additional regulations aimed at counteracting the consequences of climate change but also due to economic motives. Applying ESG technologies becomes profitable for companies in the long run since it reduces expenditure and increases efficiency. Green technology is not limited to using electric vehicles: it is much broader, as it includes identifying any elements of the process where time, energy, and space are wasted, and fixing them. For example, applying machine learning to optimize routes reduces fuel consumption, which benefits the environment and the business. In a similar fashion, data analytics help to consolidate shipments, thus minimizing half-empty runs and saving fuel and money.
To speak about Nomad Express LLC, Ayan Malikov spared no effort in making the ambitious goal of reducing carbon footprints of the company a priority. Eventually, applying sustainable methods such as those described above in the supply chain not only saved the planet but also saved costs by 15% in two years’ time.
“These key points capture everything related to conducting the business – from decision-making to customer experience,” concludes Ayan Malikov. “All of them become an object to innovation and become essential for sustainable development, particularly in an atmosphere that always catches you off guard by some surprise challenge.”
The expansion gained by Nomad Express LLC in recent years testifies to the efficiency of this approach, recently presented by Ayan at the Kazakh-US Business Forum in Miami in August 2024. Since then, the company has branched out its business into new regions and has now become a country-level logistics operator. It has also opened three new international markets, thus steadily expanding the global reach of the firm. Its success sets a motivating example for logistics founders and clearly proves the fact that a data-driven approach, a cross-functional innovative corporate atmosphere, customer experience enhancement, and striving for sustainability create a firm ground for prosperous development, particularly when they are united by strong leadership.
Published 16 June 2025.
